Tuesday, August 2, 2016

5:04 PM

House Speaker Paul Ryan's campaign today denied he or anyone "on his team ever asked for Donald Trump's endorsement."

Zack Roday, Ryan's campaign spokesman, added: "And we are confident in a victory next week regardless."

Ryan's campaign issued the statement after Trump told the Washington Post he's "not quite there yet" to endorse Ryan in his primary. It was the latest bit of tension between the GOP presidential nominee and the House speaker from Janesville.

In the interview, Trump also said Ryan's primary opponent, Paul Nehlen, is running a "very good campaign" and is a "big fan" of the GOP nominee. Trump yesterday tweeted a thank you to Nehlen after his campaign took a shot at Ryan's negative response to Trump's comments toward the family of a Muslim U.S. soldier who was killed in Iraq in 2004.

Trump told the Post that Ryan has sought his endorsement and he's currently "giving it very serious consideration."

"I like Paul, but these are horrible times for our country," Trump told the paper. "We need very strong leadership. We need very, very strong leadership. And I'm just not quite there yet. I'm not quite there yet."

Trump's comment mirrors Ryan's response in an early May CNN interview that he was "not there yet" in terms of supporting the businessman and wanted to hear more before endorsing.-- By JR Ross